Rational Eye
by stormrs12
Summary: Takes place three years after the events of the final episode of Makuku City actors. Hibiya (15), and Hiyori (15) are now High school students who are just living their normal lives. Lately, though, there seems to be something strange about Hibiya, especially with his decision makings.
1. Chapter 1

It's the early spring when the school year started. Walking down the streets, I took the opportunity to take glances at the beauties known as Cherry Blossom trees, and thinking of how such sight's the polar opposite of what happened to me and Hiyori years ago. I still remember it..

"Hey, Hibiya"

The sight of Hiyori getting hit by a truck..

"Umm.. hello?"

And the scent of the her blood..

"..Hibiya?"

I still have to wonder what she was trying to tell me before each of her deaths.

"AMAMIYA HIBIYA!"

I jumped from the surprise.

"Y-yes.. ma'am?", I answered nervously, part of me still shaking.

"I have been calling you for like.. I don't know.. 5 minutes! Are you some kind of a retard?"

Ah, right, I forgot. She's walking right beside me. To be honest with you, that insult really didn't get through me; I'm somewhat used to it now. By that statement, I guess you can already imagine the amount of time she had insulted me. Well, at least I'm out of that depressing memory lane. Thanks, Hiyori.

"Uh.. I was.. uh-" trying to find the best word I know.

"Anyway,"

She cut me off right in the middle. Such manner. If I told my classmate right now that I used to have feelings for this girl, they'd be laughing their asses off, thinking that I'm some kind of a masochist.

Speaking of which, why did I lose my feelings for this girl again?

"I've been wanting to ask for a while now. How did the Dan find enough money for our tuition fee? I mean, the rest of them have to pay for their college fees too, don't they"

"Danchou told me about 'loans' or something. Don't really know how it works, though"

"Ah, I think it's when you.. like.. ask the money from the bank or something.. like that"

"Hmm, neat."

The rest of the walk isn't something special, we just talked about whatever random stuff that came up in our heads, mainly about the rumors that the other classmates were talking about the other day.

The road just outside the school fences are really quiet today – probably because we came early. Normally we would be accompanied by the sound of the other groups of classmates (mostly females) who just seems to always talk too loud. Occasionally some of the boys will break into fights, and when they do it, they just had to do it loud.

We arrived at class with much time to spare before home room. Hiyori was in front of me, so she slid the door open and walked inside. I followed her in as usual.

"Good morning," one after another, we said. But I forgot one thing: no boys would come this early. I turn my head in every direction, desperately trying to find a member of the same sex.

Dang it, being left alone with a bunch of girls – what a nightmare. I particularly hate it when they start chatting on **loudly** about some rumor that seems as if they themselves were the one who started. I just have to wonder how many times have they gossiped about me and another classmate going out.

Trying my best to avoid any sort of human interaction, I hurried to my desk and sat down without anyone knowing. I feel like a certain loner from a certain teenage love comedy or something.

I looked toward the window and used my Focusing Eye ability to see if there's any of the male classmates out there. The power is really useful in situations like this; I could see at a distance where normal people couldn't.

That said, though, I swear I've **never** used it to take a peek into the girls' locker room. Well, maybe once.. but just once! Anyway..

Gah, I should've expected this. I see no boys of my age, not even at the 5 meter radius away from school. This leaves me with only one choice, desk napping. It's the only way I could get myself out of this horrible society comprised only of girls.

I crossed my arms on my desk and slowly lowered my head.

"Good morning, Amamiya-kun!"

Aww, shucks. It's times like this that I want Danchou around me. Sometimes, not being able to be seen would be nice, and I'm sure Shintaro-san will say the same. I looked up to see quite a familiar sight. It's the face of non other than this classmate of mine.

"Good morning, Nakata.."

Nakata Shiori, probably the brightest girl ever in my class, and I mean that in the literal sense. She has a black hair that's tied up to the right. What's holding it there are 10 small beads held together by red rubber, each with different color, all of which are the shades of warm colors. Her eye's a shade of the color that I couldn't make out the name, something between yellow and red. Needless to say its different from those of the beads. And damn! Are those special size meat buns on her chest!?

Ahem.. She has her bad points, though. For one, she's energetic, **overly** energetic. My fellow male classmates don't mind that, though, in fact, they don't even care. She's the girl in the dreams of all the boys in this class (except me, of course). That girl is standing right in front of me, giving me probably the sweetest smile I've ever seen since the day I was born, and even trying to start a conversation.

Ah, yeah, I did say that one of the things girls like to gossip about is that a classmate and I are going out. She's the one.

I do not feel lucky, not one bit..

"I'm wondering if you want to accompany me to the mall after school?"

Now, that was unexpected. So much so that I thought I misheard something.

"Wha-what did you just sa-say?!"

Damn it Hibiya, 'tis not a good time to be stuttering, boy.

"Aww, dummy! I'm asking you if you wanna accompany me to the mall. Haha, your flushing face looks so adorable!"

She's right. I did felt my cheeks heating up, but never thought it'd be **this** obvious. It can't be helped; what she said just now could very well be translated as "Hey, go on a date with me!"

No.. actually, think positive, maybe she just wants an extra pair of hands for shopping, and I just so happen to be the only boy in the room at this moment.

"Shiori, exactly what business do you have with Hibiya?", said someone with a dangerously familiar voice.

I turned to my right to see Hiyori, who's crossing her arms, and giving Nakata a deadly gaze with the reason unbeknownst to me. Probably something to do with their opinions on idols. I heard that Nakata is a fan of the idol who publicly denounced Oba-san, or something like that. Huh, so girls are really loyal to their idols.

Wait, the heck?! No, that's not the problem here! Please, don't break into an argument in front of me. Living with Oba-san, I've had enough to hear about idols. And Hiyori, since when have you been standing there?! Oh, wait, your seat is right next mine.

"Nothing. Just asking him to go out with me after school, hehe"

Lady, that's probably the one of the worst possible way you could've phrased it. At this point, if she says something like "I'm asking him to go on a date with me!", it wouldn't make much of a difference, even if it's just a lie, honestly.

"Great. Then you don't have any problem with me joining you, right? I have things that I wanted to buy anyway"

"Sorry, Hiyori-chan, but I prefer going 1 on 1 with Amamiya-kun today. Maybe we could go together next time? It'll be just the 2 of us!"

"I want to go **today** , Shiori - did I make myself clear?"

"How about we let Amamiya-kun decide then?"

No, don't do this..

"Alright then, Hibiya, you'll let me go, right?"

I just couldn't say anything at that point; whatever the words that's on the tip of my tongue keep getting swallowed back. It feels as if two nations are going to start a war, and yours happen to be in between them. Making any decision at this moment will probably end up the same: one girl ends up wanting to slap another. I figured out the fairest way, though. I looked at both of them, each time in the eyes, trying to give them the "hey, I've made up my mind, and I'm serious" sort of face.

"Sorry Hiyori, maybe next time"

"Wha-.. what?! Hibiya, what are you-"

"You heard the man, Hiyori-chan~~"

Wait, is that what I wanted to say? Is that really fair? I guess I thought it's more fair for Nakata since she asked me first.

All is going well for her, it seems.

As for Hiyori, she seems speechless; her face all blank, trying her best to process what was going on. It took a little while, but her face did eventually comes back to being normal. She crossed her arms and looked to the side.

"F-fine.."

"Then, it's decided. See you after school, A-ma-mi-ya kuuun~"

With all that done, Tanaka hopped back to her seat, while Hiyori just sat down. I could see her eyes, it's all wet, but she's not crying. It's as if had she not hold back, she would've burst into tears by now. Well, girls are social beasts, of course they'd want to cry when they lose, but on what exactly? I don't know. All I know is as soon as I get back to the Dan hideout, I'll apologize to Hiyori for leaving her out. But for now I'll have to think of the things to do at the mall with Nakata.


	2. Chapter 2

The bell that marked the end of homeroom rang, and the teacher picks up his stuff, mostly Math books. Yup, this is the kind of reality I have to face, the homeroom teacher is a Math teacher, but it it's not the next period, so whatever.

The first period is English, my favorite subject, but the weird part is that it's probably Hiyori's most hated. Every time she sees our English teacher walks in, she'd grudge a bit, expressing her annoyance. It's quite a contradiction to her English grade, which is somehow always an A.

"Alright, class, today I'll give you a simple assignment: just translate these sentences up here, and you're done for today. Oh yeah, it's fine if you walk up to your friend for help, English is about communication, after all,"

On the board are 10 sentences that we have to translate. It's quite easy, to be honest, and it didn't take me long to translate all but the last question, which I'm in the process of doing. It made me surprised to see this much people walking, really. Wait, I can sense something walking through the crowd towards me.

"Amamiya-kun, can you help me with the last sentence, please?", said Nakata as she appears.

What?! Seriously, Nakata..? You translated the previous 9 yourself, but can't do the last one? Gah, the tone that she used to ask made it irresistible to help, though. You win, Nakata.

"Ok, let's see, last sentence.."

The last sentence says 'The wallet is expensive'.

"Ah, it means-"

"It means that the wallet is expensive, Shiori,"

Eh? I didn't say that. I turned my right and saw Hiyori. Once again, just like in the morning, Hiyori interrupted me.

Nobody else says anything next – the only voices in the room are that of the other discussing classmates. The two had a staring contest for a moment, until Nakata finally speaks up.

"Thanks, Hiyori-chan~! Hehe"

"No problem"

I don't know if it's just me, but I could sense the underlying hostile intent under their voices. I think it's just my imagination, though; I probably was just thinking too much about this morning. At least both of them returned to their seat without anymore verbal exchange. I'd prefer not to let these to two have **anymore** exchange, albeit an eye contact, towards each other.

The rest of the morning period went by without any problem regarding those two; other teachers aren't as keen on letting the students roam around the class. Under normal circumstances this would've annoyed me, but it's this thing that's keeping the two apart, so I don't really have any rights to complain.

That's right, the two being kept apart, all is good..

That is, until lunch time..

"Amamiya-kun! Let's eat lunch together~!", Nakata called from the other side of the room, again with those sweet voices – who could resist? I'd be honest with you, no matter how **ugly** she may become, as long as you have not looked at her, and listened to her voice, your image of her will put Japan's Miss Milky Way to shame.

Nakata carried her chair, with her bento on top of it while walking towards my desk. I got up to connect the currently unoccupied table in front to my desk in response.

Right when I connected the table, I heard a loud bang right beside me. I don't even have to turn my face in order to grasp what was going on.

"Hey, Hibiya, I'll join you," said someone with the voice exactly the same as Hiyori. That's because she's exactly the source of it.

That's the kind confirmation I don't need right now. All I wanted to do was to eat my food peacefully like any other day, occasionally with insults coming from Hiyori about how 'useless' or 'idiotic' I am, but now I'll have to sit through the gaze exchange between the two idol fanatics. At least they're just staring at each other – or so I thought.

"Amamiya-kun, say 'Ahh~'" requested Nakata with her signature whining voice (assuming the tilde isn't descriptive enough), for me to be chopsticks-fed a piece of takoyaki. That's just embarrassing; only couples do that, and even so it'll still be embarrassing. But with that sort of voice, I couldn't really resist her defenselessness, could I? So I fought that feeling of mine, closed both of my eyes and opened my mouth, saying 'Ahh' in the process. Yup, it's embarrassing, more so than I thought – my cheeks felt so warm, and I'm pretty sure it's showing on my face. I hope they don't notice, though, it feels so creepy.

When the takoyaki touched my tongue, I carefully closed my mouth, trying not to make any contact to the chopsticks to avoid an indirect kiss. I opened my eyes to see the position of the chopsticks for better accuracy. That is when I subconsciously closed my mouth, covering up the end of both chopsticks, officially, albeit accidentally, receiving an indirect kiss from the Nakata Shiori.

When I noticed what was going on, my cheeks were already burning hot.

"Hibiya, what are you doing?! That's just gross!", Hiyori raised her voice at me.

"Aa! Sorry, Nakata! Hand me those, I'll go wash them"

I reached my hand out to try to grab the chopsticks, but she just pulled it back. She then picks up another takoyaki and ate it with the same pair that was just in my mouth.

She lets out a small, cute giggle.

"It's fine, dummy~", Nakata reassured me.

"Huh, seriously? Shiori, you're just going to let this pass?"

"It's fine, Hiyori-chan. I don't really mind."

"You shouldn't let your guard down, especially not with this idiot"

Shiori once again let out a giggle.

"I told you, it's fine~"

Somehow, I ended up being the one on the end Hiyori's heart-stabbing words. I mean, that's fine, at least the two of them didn't argue with each other. That made me feel at ease for wanting to do something in Nakata's favor.


	3. Chapter 3

I waited at the front gate for Nakata, because apparently her club has a meeting today. It's been half an hour or so, but she still have yet to show up. So I thought about some stuff in order to counter the boredom, and that is when something came up: why is Nakata so cute in my eyes? It's as if she's using some kind of black magic to control my visual senses. Nah, I'm probably just desperate when it comes to romance, being called 'useless' everyday and all.

"Sorry for the wait, Amamiya-kun!"

Nakata's sudden apology pulled me back to my senses. It's feels weird that the person you just thought about appear in front of your very eyes. It's that same feeling when someone uses the phrase "speaking of the devil".

"It's alright, I didn't wait for that long anyway"

Wasting no time, we both walked out of school together towards the mall location. It's on the way to the Dan's headquarters, so returning isn't anything difficult.

"What happened to Hiyori-chan?"

"She already went home."

..was what I said, and it's not a lie, she did actually went home (The Dan Hideout, to be exact), at least that's what she said she'd do, anyway. Though, truth be told, Hiyori did left a remark before going, something along the lines of "if you lay your fingers on her, not only will I tell Danchou, I'll also make sure that you'll have your worst nightmare, **got it**?"

It gave me chills, and it still does -why would she go that far? I'm just accompanying Nakata to the mall. If anything, Nakata should be the one to blame if someone were to misunderstood; she's the one who talked to me with those diabetes-inducing tone. Though, to be honest, I don't necessarily dislike it. Actually, I want to consult her real badly on how I should deal with Hiyori's attitude - "why," you asked?

Because I can't ignore it anymore.

Recently, those words that meant nothing for the past 3 years starts hurting me more and more. I guess it's like how we handle our sweets; when we're young, we don't care about the artificial taste or smell; we lusted for it, and we never thought our crave for it would ever be gone. But as we grow up, those aspects we once loved become slightly unpleasant at first, and would gradually, and eventually turn appalling.

Back then, I would never thought of her insult words as what it was; I thought I should be grateful, being able to talk to the person I have feelings for. Now that things have come this far, I think it sort of already went pass what I would consider "unpleasant". Even if I've lost my feelings, she's still my friend. That's why - it's because the people who you care for used the very same words people who don't care about you would. The weight of the accumulated feelings I got from holding back my emotions is starting to be too heavy for me.

"We're here, Amamiya-kun"

We were just outside the mall. Nakata probably stopped to check on me because she noticed how quiet I was.

I guess I should ask her, after all.

"Hey, Nakata"

"Hmm~? What is it, Amamiya-kun?"

Heh, what am I thinking. Of course I can't tell her about Hiyori, especially not when we live together. Plus, if I remember correctly, they had problems with each other this morning, so of course Nakata would go against Hiyori no matter what.

"It's about Hiyori-chan, right?"

I let out a small grasp, surprised that her guess could be so spot on, without any explicitly given clue, no less. I could not help but struggling to reply. I don't know whether if I should tell her to back off from this topic, or to just tell her every single thing that I have on my mind.

"Amamiya-kun, why don't we find some place quiet to sit? I'm always up for a talk. Shopping can always wait, you know?"

I guess I'll do neither.

Nakata tilts her head side ways as she finishes her sentence. The smile that she had on her face is her warmest yet – I've not once seen her expression being made like this before, it's that of care, with little hints of worry. The loud and overly energetic Nakata Shiori is capable of this kind of thing?

Both of us walked to the park nearby. At this time of the day, there's usually no one around, and it will make a good spot for the consulting. We sat on a bench in front of a small lake, couple of trees and bushes behind us. It's quite a privacy we're getting right here.

"Hiyori-chan is hurting you, isn't she? With those words of her"

At this point I'm not surprised anymore that she could guess something like that. What happened earlier convinced me that she could read me like a book, so there's no point in lying.

"Yeah"

"In the past you've never felt like this before. It's just recently that those feelings started changing"

I nodded.

"And those feelings are about to make you explode"

"Y-yeah.."

I struggle to even reply properly. Judging from the firsthand experience I had just then, I guess I can conclude that It's not easy to hold one's immense feeling of sorrow and have proper conversation at the same time. Any sort of trigger right now would make my eyes water in an instant – I hope Shiori doesn't do anything irrational knowing this.

"Then explode, I'm right here to piece you back together. In fact, if it's you, I'll always happily piece you back together, you know?"

That is when my eyes and mouth became widened. I could feel a tear drop or two coming down from both of my eyes. The small drops started increasing, and then I was fully crying, beside a girl, no less. Feeling disgusted at myself, I lowered my head, covered my face and turned the other direction.

"I'm sorry.. I'm really pathetic"

Then, I could feel something wrapping around my neck, and something leaning against the side of my head. I felt a very warm and motherly sensation. It's something I have not experienced in a long time: a hug.

Nakata was hugging me.

"Dummy, it's okay to cry"

"Nakata.."

"Shiori"

"Huh?"

"Call me with my first name – call me **Shiori** "

"Shi-.. Shiori.."

"Good boy"

Nakata.. wait, it's Shiori now, isn't it? Shiori let out a small giggle, but didn't say anything else, and continued embracing me just like that for the whole afternoon.


	4. Chapter 4

The useless kid seemed so distant for the past week. Every morning he woke up, he went straight for his daily hygiene routine, ate breakfast then leave without saying anything other than "I'll be going ahead". He didn't talk to anyone, not even to me. It is strange; normally he would've wait for me to finish my breakfast, then would walk to school together with me. Today is a holiday, and usually he doesn't like going out, yet he did. Even the others noticed it – they're worried whether or not he's keeping something from us.

It would be a lie to say that I'm not at all worried; usually he'd discuss with me any problems he had, be it about his grades, the annoying classmates, and even about the trauma he had on black cats. There are times that I find it silly, and sometimes it made me wonder whether or not if he's using life consulting as an excuse to talk to me, but I helped. Sometimes I accidentally would hurt his feelings then realize it later, but I always try to make up for it. So why, all of the sudden, would he cut almost all the connections he had with me? I don't know, maybe it's a good idea for me to be consulting now, being the consultant for so long.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that, at least not with The Deceiver..

"My, my, Hiyori-chan, aren't you cute? Getting all lonely without Hibiya's company"

Why did I consult this guy again? Ah, right, because everyone else is still asleep, tired from the mission last night running late. He didn't go out with the others, though. Hibiya and I were told to stay home, so he volunteered to also stay home to make sure we behave. If you think that's nonsense, don't fret, because I'm with you on that.

"Uhh.. no, Kano-san, that's not what I meant by asking 'why is Hibiya acting so distant'"

"Who knows? Maybe I'm hiding something from you, Hiyori"

Huh?! Why.. why is Hibiya standing right there – he should've already gone out. Though, needless to say that I am upset, hearing stuff like that from him.

Not being able to contain it, I grabbed his collar with both of my hands.

"Then WHAT IS IT!? Why are you even hiding something?! I've been nothing but truthful to you, and this is how you treat me?!"

Then as I blink, the color of the color turned from complete white to a black and white one, and the person seems to be taller now. I put my head up in confusion and saw Kano-san, who started laughing hysterically. That is when I realized something, Hibiya wasn't here at all, I was tricked by Kano-san's eye ability.

"Oh my, Hiyori-chan, you should have seen your face!"

My cheeks were heated up badly. I'm glad I didn't have a mirror with me, or else I would be able to see how pathetic I look. This is one thing I, and possibly the rest of The Dan, hates about him – he has a tendency to go overboard with his prank. Usually it's fine because Danchou would be around to hit him in the face. I guess I'm just unlucky today.

Yes, I'm angry, but it still wouldn't match the embarrassment I'm getting from being all worked up like that.

"Well, joking aside, I'm sure it has to be something. This is not how Hibiya-kun usually acts. I'll ask the rest. Well.. just maybe"

I couldn't tell if he's actually serious because he was grinning as he finishes the sentence. But whether or not The Dan will do something about it, I'm still going to try to find out on my own; I feel like this is a very personal matter. Hibiya stands out from other classmates for the fact he wouldn't leave my side no matter how many times I insulted him. I'd admit, there are times that I spent with him that I consider enjoyable. He's one of those people I actually consider a friend - it's those people that I don't want to lose, not even a single one of them.

"I guess I have to look for him first"

I went out of the hideout, and to the road where The Dan usually use; it's a good place to start looking.

"The GPS says our shota is sitting somewhere around **the playground** ", said someone whose voice seem to came out from my pocket. I took my phone out and saw Ene-san floating around the screen.

"Uhh.. Ene-san, since when have you been on my phone?"

"Ahh, about that.. Uhh, I was here since you mistook Kano for the shota.. hahaha"

"Wait.. does that mean-"

"Yup! I heard every single thing you said."

I just started at the screen after hearing that. I could not believe that my carelessness would lead me to get all worked up, in front of 2 people, no less. Just like earlier, I started blushing hard.

"Ene-san, anyone would say something along those lines if they were to be treated like I was"

"Especially by the one you love, isn't it?"

She the smiled at me in a playful manner. Since my blushed cheeks doesn't seem to have recovered from her previous attack, this actually made it ten times worse. It's as if I could survive Russian Winter with just my face alone at this point.

"I don't have that sort of feelings for him. He's a classmate, that's all"

"Maybe the reason he acts like this is because you said that sort of thing"

Ene-san unexpectedly switched to a much more serious tone. It felt like she became a totally different personality at an instant. I was speechless. Her face then changed to one of pain and regret, one that I've never expected to see from someone like her. She then gave me a faint smile.

"Hiyori-chan, once you lost your chance of expressing your feelings to your loved ones, that's it – you'll never have that same chance again"

It sounded like she was speaking from her own experience. Of course I don't want that sort of regretful feeling. I know that Hibiya is important to me, but never once have I consider whether or not the word "love" fits his case. I guess I'll..

" _Yatte yaru wa_ [1]"

Ene-san's expression changed again, but this time to that of encouragement and support. She's genuinely smiling right now.

"Hiyori-chan, those were the same words shota said 3 years ago, _after letting out a big sigh, under the moon far away_ [2]"

"What?"

"Uhh.. never mind that.. now we have to find out what the shota is doing, aren't we?"

She's right. Even if the feeling is still unclear to me, it's better to take my chance than to do nothing, isn't it?

"Yeah, Ene-san, let's go"

[1] – means something along the line of "I'll do it", or "I'll try to do it". It is similar to what Hibiya said at the end of Otsukimi Recital: "yatte yaru sa", which means the same thing but with different degree of formality.

[2] – Reference to Otsukimi Recital


	5. Chapter 5

I'm glad Hiyori-chan decided that she'll do something about our shota. This will hopefully guide her through right the right path on figuring out her actual feelings, assuming that my words earlier got through. That said, I know that I shouldn't be the one to judge, this matter being based on her entirely, and also for the fact that I myself wasn't honest with my own feelings as well..

"Hiyori-chan, we're almost there", I said as the playground emerges from the horizon. In situations like these, its probably better for me to be in my human form because I also wanted to see what the shota's doing with my very own eyes. So I did just that, I transferred myself from Hiyori-chan's phone into the real world.

"Woah! Ene-san, it's been so long that I last saw you like this," said Hiyori in a surprised tone.

"Well, I figured it'd be better this way – in case we have to split up"

As we get closer to the playground, we tried going slower, trying our best not to make any noticeable sound. We managed to get ourself inside of the bushes near the swings, the place where the shota was shown on the GPS to be at. Indeed, he was there; I could hear his voice clearly from here. Though, there was another voice that accompanied his, a voice of a girl. It was quite new to my ears, but not quite so to Hiyori's. In fact, her expression changed to that of disbelief as the voice becomes clear – it's as if she didn't had to look at the face to know who it was.

I carefully rose up, trying to get the view of what was going on, while trying to not alert the two at the same time. I saw the shota sitting on a swing, and a girl who was sitting on another swing. The girl looks the same age as both Hiyori-chan and shota, so it would make sense to say that the girl is her classmate. She reminds me of the girl with pigtails from that Anime where it's advertised to be about Light Music, but in most episodes the girls just drink tea. I can't remember the name of the girl nor the Anime, though.. wait.. this isn't the time for that!

"Hiyori-chan, is that girl an acquaintance of yours?" I asked curiously.

"Nakata Shiori – she's my classmate"

"I see. Did you know about their meeting at all?"

"I seriously didn't, but I got a strange feeling that she has something to do with his current behavior, though"

"You did?"

"Last week she asked him to accompany her to the mall. That was when he started acting all distant, so I thought there were some connections"

So essentially, they've been secretly going out since last week. There is one thing that bothered me about that, it's the fact that some two or three weeks ago, shota asked me for advice on how to get closer to Hiyori.  
I have never seen such a quick change of heart before. That said, I know that it's too fast to actually make that conclusion, so I decided to continue with the spying.

"Hibiya-kun, what's the matter?"

"You know, Shiori, I'm very grateful for everything you've done, like.. really"

Hearing that conversation exchange, Hiyori just seemed shocked.

"Wh- when did they start calling each other by their first names?" Hiyori asked in disbelief. It make sense – if she's just another classmate of his, then why are they addressing each other with their first names? Even I don't call him by his name!

The girl said nothing, she just smiled. Then she stood up, and went to stand in front of shota, who was still sitting on the swing. She kneeled down and started blushing.

"You don't have to thank me, I did all that because I.."

"I?"

"I.."

"I.. what?"

"Because I love you! Jeez, dummy, you're such a bully", the girl said as she pouts. Shota didn't seem to have expected that – his face seemed to have turn redder than a tomato. To tell you the truth, neither did I expected such a sudden confession.

Shota gave her a smile. It's an awkward one, but warm no less.

"Me too, Shiori, I love you too. But uhh.."

He made an expression of guilt, as if he had commit some kind of crime against the girl.

"What's wrong, dummy?" the girl asked him in a very sweet tone. So sweet, in fact, that I think I'd eventually get diabetes if I listen to her voice long enough. It seems to be what boys these days like, though, especially for shota, I guess. I don't know exactly what he and Hiyori usually talk about, but I would often hear the word "useless" or "idiot" being thrown at him. This, compared to the usual, is of course like heaven to him – as far as I know, no girls have ever done the same for him before.

"Well, you know.. you've done a lot for me, but I don't know how should I pay you back.."

Upon hearing that, the girl smiled warmly and tilts her head to the left.

"Dummy, just stay with me, forever", the girl replied.

Eh? What is the fast paced development going on here? I have never seen such emotions of that magnitude before. The only thing that could possibly top that in terms of corniness would be one of those Romance Anime marketed towards teens..

As if things weren't heated up enough, the girl closed her eyes and leaned forward, requesting a kiss from shota.

Shota gulps, then lean forward, connecting their foreheads but was still reluctant on whether or not if he should do it.

"I know we've kissed indirectly once before, but I want to make it official," reassured the girl, knowing how tensed up he was.

"Please, Hibiya-kun"

The way she begged him introduces her new tone. This time it's sort of seductive, but not enough that would make him lose his mind and forcibly undress her. Dang, this girl is good.

Shota responded with a determined face, and cupped her cheeks. He pulled her closer while he himself also moved in, and their lips were connected.

This is just too much to watch.. I mean, I do feel happy for him, but I'm a woman – looking at something like this just made my cheeks heat up as much as those two. Please tell me Hiyori-chan is having a problem as well, that'll actually put me at ease..

"Hey, Hiyori-chan, do you-.. wha..?!"

Indeed she had problems, one much greater than mine, actually. So much that it seems like she's in pain. I mean, flowing from her eyes were tears.. **l** **ots** of tears.. and all I can see on her face was emptiness, as if her world suddenly crumbled in front of her very own eyes. The fact that I know why made me feel somewhat guilty for not being able to do anything about it, looking at her right now.

Come to think of it, whether or not he chooses either of the girl would entirely be his choice – that is true, but to think that he would change his target of affection in such short period of time is just beyond me. This guy had feelings for Hiyori-chan for the past 3 years – he had endured a lot from her to get this far; giving up right now to go for another girl seems so rash. All the questions have popped up in my head, so I decided to move my sight from the romantic scene to think of the answers, as well as seeing how Hiyori was doing. But as I turn away, I saw a flash of red, something familiar, so I decided to look back.

"N.. no way.."

The girl's eye was glowing red.

What is going on in here? She using some kind of ability on him, one that we have not seen before.

Could it be.. that the reason why shota has been acting weird for the past week was because of her ability?

"You'll be with me right, Hibiya-kun?", she said as she part her lips from his.

"Yeah.. but.. I.. Hiyori", shota said, but it was as if he was struggling to do so.

"Don't worry about her, I'm right here, Hibiya-kun," said the girl as her eyes turned red.

"Yeah, you're right. No point in worrying"

I was right, she's using some kind of hypnosis on him. No wonder his actions seems so rash, it's because they're not his at all. So she's desperate enough to hypnotize someone to love her, huh.

Gah! Focus, Takane.. focus.. this is not the time for that.. I have to break the shota free first. I quickly turned into digital form and entered the weeping Hiyori's phone. Through 3G signal, I made my way to shota's phone, and turned back to human form in between them. My sudden appearance plus the lightning particles caused them to separate from each other. I utilized the confusion I created to pull him away from the swing and dashed backward as far as possible.

"Huh?! Ene-san, what are you-"

"Just shut up and stay right there"

"Why, Ene-san? We were just hanging out"

"Are you an idiot? Wake up already, that girl was hypnotizing you!"

Then the girl started laughing, this time with a light demonic intonation, contrast to her sweet ones earlier.

"Hypnotizing you say? Let me tell you, lady, all of that was _his own_ decisions, right Hibiya-kun?", she asked, changing her tone to a sweet one like earlier. This time her eyes did not glow red, however.

"Yeah, she's right. What I did so far, including that.. was my own decision"

I could not believe what I heard. If shota didn't get hypnotized, then what's with her eyes, then? Was she telling the truth?

Wait.. of course, she was – if she's using her power to control him on command, he wouldn't have responded to me like that. That means she had done something to his brain earlier on and shota himself didn't notice. I don't know what she did, but it's definitely something, which means I have to ask her _myself_.


	6. Chapter 6

Even if shota weren't being controlled directly, it still wouldn't deny the fact her power had some influence on his thought process. I have to somehow prove this to kick all things Nakata Shiori out of his brains. I stood there in position, pondering on whether or not should I make an all out charge toward her in human form, then squeeze all the information she had. Then all of the sudden, wham! I heard a loud physical impact behind me, followed by a brief gasp – of which the voice belongs to the shota. I turned to see how he was doing, but by then he was already on the ground, knocked out by one guy who wasn't there before. The guy wore the uniform from the same school as Hiyori-chan and shota, and also appeared to be of the same age.

"Kobayashi-kun, if you can defeat that lady right there, I'll date you everyday from now on!", the girl persuaded using those sugar coated tone for the god knows how many times now today. Her eyes did glow red, but knowing that her power isn't total mind domination, I doubted for a second whether or not he would accept the request with such absurd reward.

I couldn't have been any more wrong – the guy launches himself towards me, using what seemed to be all his might, trying to catch me. As he was about to get a grip on my body, I noticed a rectangle- shaped bulge with the size about his hand's from his right pocket. Assuming it was a phone, I gambled – I held it real tight and tried digitizing myself. That was when he successfully grabbed me by the neck. Right then I found a place I could enter using my digital form and immediately did so, freeing myself from the guy's hands.

God, this guy's phone is a complete disaster; a wallpaper being a secretly taken picture of the girl, and that's just the wallpaper; the photo gallery is full of her picture as well – gross. Hmm.. I know a way to mess with this guy. First, I decided to get his attention by causing his phone to vibrate.

And... Success! He picked up!

"Hii~!"

"The heck?! What are you? And what are you doing in my phone?!"

"Young man, spying is against the law, you know? Such naughtiness – even _my master_ would be ashamed!"

"What are you babbling on about, you stupid _virus_?!"

"About the fact that this stupid _virus_ is about to do _this_!"

I opened up the Photo Gallery App, and ticked the box on all of the pictures, all of which are secret shots of the girl – gee, how hopeless can he be? I gave him a playful smile and deleted the pictures in front of his very eyes.

"No! My beautiful Nakata! What have you done?!", the guy cried, being on the verge of tears.

The guy scrolled up and down, left and right, but all of the photos are gone, not even the background image remain.

Seeing this as an opportunity, I dashed toward the screen feet first in a kicking position, gaining as much velocity as I could. As I approach the screen, I quickly turned into human form and kicked the guy in the face with all the power right when I exited his phone, knocking him off instantly.

"That's quite bold of you – planning on having an affair right after making an oath with a guy"

"It's not an affair if I have no feelings for him, lady. My heart is only for Hibiya-kun, and no one else. The same goes for the other way around."

"Well then, girl, what are you going to do now? The creepy fan of yours has been defeated," I said to the girl in a condescending tone.

The girl chuckled, and her eyes turned red.

"Of course, I'd bring out more creepy fans! – Satou-kun, Kazekawa-kun, Shichida-kun, Katayama-kun, the same deal as earlier, whoever can bring Hibiya-kun back can date me!"

From the bushes of the playground, all four boys whose surnames were mention charged out towards my direction, each of them holding something of a long length; a baseball bat, a PVC pipe, a 2 by 4, and a freaking nightstick. _Just how desperate are these guys?!_ I quickly turned myself into digital form and entered the phone of the guy I knocked out. Thanks to the girl yelling out their names, I could use it to find contact information. Using the details, I worked out that the first guy is Satou. I traveled to the his phone and used the same trick as earlier, and he responded the same way, taking his phone out to check for notifications. I used to same attack again, assuming those four haven't seen what happened to Kobayashi.

"My precious collection! Wha- ", he got kicked in the face before being able to finish his sentence.

I successfully knocked Satou out, and turned back into human form, but didn't realize that the other two guys were standing near him. I made a simple mistake that was followed by a grave consequence, each of them grabbed me by the arm, and successfully held me in place. As much as I wanted to beak free, I couldn't – I can be deadly when if I have technologies to mess with, but as a human, I am just one frail lady who could only bark. Not to mention that I was being held by two people – young, and healthy, no less. My fly-like flinging wouldn't give them any difficulties.

* * *

Everything seemed so blurry as I opened my eyes; I could see three of everything moving left and right, as if my brain was trying its best to focus. Apparently I was lying down on the ground, but I don't remember how I ended up in this position. I did, however, remembered Ene-san coming in to interrupt me and Shiori, and that was when I suddenly passed out. Then, my vision started getting clearer and clearer as I gradually gain consciousness. I could see a women being held by what appeared to be two guys. _Wait.. that's Ene-san being held_ _, and isn't that Shiori over there?!_ _,_ I thought.

"Let me explain lady, seeing that you may become another victim of these pair of eyes" said Shiori in the same cute, but demonic tone she used earlier – the one that I thought was just a joke.

"The power isn't really mind controlling – at least not directly"

 _What is she talking about?_

"I call them Rational Eyes – they have the ability to make people think rationally, and then act based on those thoughts. Of course, it has to be what I think is rational for it to work. Well, it has it's limitations, though, like the fact that I can only use it with people who open up themselves to me"

"That couldn't be true.. for three years now, he had been.."

"Knowing that you're a friend of his, I am assuming you're talking about Hiyori – I'm betting right now that you think it was a rash decision, no matter from which perspective you look at. But let me remind you, I can make people do things I perceive as rational. I'm sure you do know how she treated him everyday – she'd look down on him, insult him, and everything else that made him felt like he was some kind of degraded human being. **Anyone** would think the same thing, that he should just give up on her, and find a new target of affection."

 _Ah, that made sense. Of course I would lose my feelings for a girl who treated me that badly. She right. Any other boy would've done the same._

 _ **However,**_

 _The decision weren't mine. I know that, to an outsider, including Shiori, I look like some kind of masochistic idiot. But there's one thing they haven't thought of, it's the fact that **I don't hate it**. I know that it sounds crazy, but it's the truth, and I wouldn't never have lost my feelings, had it not been for external influence._

 _I have to stop Shiori – I'm the reason why this sort of thing is happening. If I can make her understand that, she'll surely stop, and everything will go back to normal._

 **AN: Kouzu - Well, here it is. It took me quite a white for this chapter because I spent a lot of time thinking on how I should do fight scenes, dialogues, and etc.**


	7. Chapter 7

I slowly rose up from the ground, at the same time trying to balance myself as some of my strengths still have not recovered. I just hope they didn't notice me yet; I couldn't afford to be pinned down to the ground (or as a matter of a fact, anywhere) right now. If I don't stop Shiori, she might hurt more people, including herself. First, I have to break Ene-san free to make sure she's safe.

I raised right feet just a little bit above the ground and tried pushing myself forward. Both my foot felt really heavy, and had I lower it just a little, it would have collided with the ground. It was really strange – a smack to the back of my head couldn't possibly take all my strengths away.

I dragged myself towards Shiori, trying my best to not get noticed. I was lucky that I was behind her peripheral vision, it'll be harder for her to detect my presence. It doesn't matter if those guys see me; if I could get hold of Shiori fast enough, they won't do anything. In fact, they can't, they are trying to hold Ene-san in place. The plan is quite simple: hug Shiori, comfort her first, then try to convince her to stop all this mess.

Just a little more, then I will be at arm length from her. Just a little more..

 **Bang**

Eh? I heard gunshot sound from my left.

My body got heavier, so much so that I fell on to my knees. Right then, I felt as if something was starting to flow from my waist, followed by a fire-hot burning sensation. I covered that very place with both my hands, trying to subside the burning.

I turned to my left and saw one of the two guys pointing a pistol at me while still holding Ene-san, who was shouting something at me. I couldn't hear it, though. It was as if all senses of mine was being shut off one by one, leaving vision as the last. My eyes started getting heavy, and soon enough, I was on the ground again.

* * *

 **B** **ang**

I heard a gun being shot from the playground, but I didn't care – it wouldn't make a difference.

I tried my best being by his side, I really did. I listened to all of his problems, helped him, and even cheered him up a lot of times.

I just don't care about what happened anymore – it doesn't matter what I do, that idiot found himself someone suitable, and that's all that matters, right? This is for his own good, and for my own, too.

"Hang in there Hibiya!"

Huh, that's Ene-san's voice. What happened?

"Somebody, please, save this boy!", Ene-san cried, this time sounding as if she was sobbing at the same time.

'What happened to him?', I thought. Wasn't this just him hanging out with Shiori? I mean, I still wouldn't want to see his face, but this is too strange. I couldn't bare to just stay there and weep over some stupid issue while my friend is in danger. Yeah, that's right – what ever happens to our relationship doesn't matter right now; making sure he is OK does.

I gathered my courage, and slowly rose up from the bushes. What I saw sent me through a second round of shock. Hibiya was lying on the ground over a pool of blood, which slowly got wider and wider every second.

No way.. why would someone go as far as to shoot an innocent teenager.. even worse.. why does it have to be him of all people? Nevertheless, I couldn't take it. Filled with anger and confusion, I jumped out of the bush and walk towards them. At that point, I didn't care about the kiss anymore – all I care about was to kick the asses of those stupid classmates. They've gone too far with **him**.

Unforgivable.

I started to imagine those guys getting tortured, one getting whipped while being tied to a pole, the other one who was holding a pistol getting smacked in the back with a heated metal rod hotter than anyone could imagine.

Suddenly, both of the guys let go of Ene-san, fell down to the ground, and started rolling and screaming in agony.

"Huh, Hiyori-chan? Your eyes, what-"

"Don't worry, Ene-san, those guys are getting what they deserved"

Technically speaking, I am a deceiver just like Kano-san, the difference is that he can make himself look like something else, while I, on the other hand, can make people think they're going through a certain scenario. Of course, there is a limitation, that being the fact that I could only use it with people who make me angry.

I faced Shiori and Katayama, knowing that they somehow had their parts in this as well. I wanted to use my power on them, but I had to keep them sane for questioning, which was in itself already very hard as they saw the two guys on the ground.

"You saw what happened to them, don't you? You do not want the same to happen to you, trust me"

I pointed towards the two on the ground.

"Please! Asahina, please hear us out, we- no.. NO!"

The sentence was followed by more screaming.

"Asahina, what are you doing to them?!"

"Quite simple, really: I'm giving them their worst nightmare. That's what my eyes were designed to do. Seeing them acting like that, I think you can imagine what would happen if you do not stop right now"

"Please spare us! We didn't know that idiot Shichida would be carrying a pistol.."

As much as I wanted to scare this guy away, I couldn't; he have not really done anything to provoke me. Even if he did, there would be no guarantee that it'll tick me off. I guessed it can't be helped then. As for Shiori, I couldn't really have done anything because she was crying. At least that proved to me that they didn't really intend for things to go in this direction.

I couldn't really hold it either, drops started flowing from my eyes as I run toward Hibiya who was lying in blood. It seemed no different from the sight I saw three years ago. This time, I don't feel like we could've restarted the day, though. I lifted his head up and rest them on my knees. I used one hand to try cover up his wound as best I could, and the other to caress his hair. Desperately, I started screaming, releasing all the emotions that have built up since I got here.

"Stay with me, idiot!"


End file.
